


A Place to Call Our Home

by shyasamouse



Series: We Travel to the End [2]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Demiromantic!Nori, F/F, Multi, Post-Quest of Erebor, dwarves dont believe in the gender binary
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-31
Updated: 2016-05-31
Packaged: 2018-07-11 07:44:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7039015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shyasamouse/pseuds/shyasamouse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Erebor was quiet. Not entirely, not silent, but the halls echoed and voices seemed to do little against the oppressive stillness. The wind murmured outside the gates, the noise of the rebuilding work reverberated through the lower halls, providing a low background to the quiet that reigned. Sometimes they managed to drown it out with music and song, but that would only last the night. Other times they just did their best to ignore the stillness, the way the mountain still felt like a crypt, having lain empty but for the bodies and a dragon for two centuries. Erebor had been reclaimed, but it was still the Lonely Mountain. The few dwarrows of the Iron Hills that had decided to stay in Erebor for the winter were not enough to fill the spaces left by the dead and missing. Post BOFTA epilogue</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Place to Call Our Home

**Author's Note:**

> hey ok so i wrote this like a year ago and never posted it because i lost touch with the lotr/hobbit fandom. now, i decided to just post what i had for the epilogue of my fic, so if this feels little unfinished that's why. 
> 
> um i was little tempted to never update/delete the fic but i decided against it. i dont feel like this series was the best work ive ever done, but i spent a lot of time on it and even if there's stuff i would go back and change if i had the time/interest, it's still something i think i should be proud of. 
> 
> so for the like three of you who might read this, thanks for reading and im sorry for taking this long to finish this.

 

Erebor was quiet. Not entirely, not silent, but the halls echoed and voices seemed to do little against the oppressive stillness. The wind murmured outside the gates, the noise of the rebuilding work reverberated through the lower halls, providing a low background to the quiet that reigned. 

 

Sometimes they managed to drown it out with music and song, but that would only last the night. Other times they just did their best to ignore the stillness, the way the mountain still felt like a crypt, having lain empty but for the bodies and a dragon for two centuries.

 

Erebor had been reclaimed, but it was still the Lonely Mountain. The few dwarrows of the Iron Hills that had decided to stay in Erebor for the winter were not enough to fill the spaces left by the dead and missing. 

 

The hollow feeling only added to the grief felt by all. So many had died in what people had taken to calling the Battle of the Five Armies. Another king was dead, neither of his direct heirs were left alive to take his place. 

 

Dain had taken to the throne with a heavy heart, and a word to the memory of another King, one who should have lived to see that day. 

 

Bilbo didn't stay long enough to see him crowned. They'd left as soon as the funerals were over, the cut on their head still an angry red and tears still glimmering in their eyes. They'd said a teary goodbye to the rest of them before stepping outside, the hobbit determined to give each a hug. 

 

Not even the temptation of feast, which was for both the funeral and the coronation, would get Bilbo to stay another night. They shook their head, quiet but firm. “I must go,” they said, “Or I'll never be able to wrest my home from my cousin's claws.” Bilbo tried for a joking tone as they prepared to leave, but their smile was tight and brittle. 

 

They saw the hobbit off, Gandalf waiting to take Bilbo back to the Shire. The burglar ( _for weren't they one? They had stolen the Arkenstone, the Heart of the Mountain, the King's Heart, yes they were a burglar in truth now_ ) welcomed them to visit anytime, and Nori was sure Bofur started crying once again. Dwalin might have been teary too, but Nori would never tell. Not when her own eyes were tellingly wet. 

 

\- - -

 

With three friends lost and another gone, the mountain seemed even emptier. Each of them tried to bury themselves in their work, busying their bodies to distract their minds. 

 

Dwalin set to work training all of Dain's guards. They seemed determined to make sure that all the guards as good as they could be, so that they would always be able to protect the king. If they weren't at the training yards, Dwalin could likely be found down in the burial area, drunk as shit. Nori had dragged them out of there once or twice herself, as had most of the others.

 

Ori threw themself into the great library of Erebor, working alone as the dwarrows from the Iron Hills who had stayed were warriors, not scribes. They saved the books they could, and copied what they couldn't. They spent log hours amongst the shelves, and often Dori or Nori would have to brave the expanse of the library to find them in time for dinner. They also spent a lot of time down by the graves, although they never needed coercing to leave like Dwalin did.

 

Dain was happy to take Balin on as a adviser. The old dwarrow was well known to be sharp and silver-tongued, and the new king was glad to have him by his side. Nori didn't know how Balin was doing. She'd never got to know them well enough to know what their moods were like. They seemed much the same to her, but Ori said they were devastated by the deaths of Thorin, Fíli and Kíli. 

 

Oin had continued on work like always. The flow of patients had only been lessened slightly by the return of some of dwarrows to the Iron Hills. Most of the badly injured had stayed put, and the healer's rooms were always full. She'd been trying to set up a clinic but the rebuilding was slow going and most of the unused spaces that could fit her needs were still unstable structurally. 

 

Bofur and Bombur had taken over the reconstruction as well as they were able. As a miner and an architect, they were some of the few capable to determine how the rebuilding should go. Bombur drew up the plans, and Bofur led the workers to tackle the major problems. Both were increasingly busy, working to get as much done before dwarrows started arriving as possible. 

 

Bifur's head injury had been acting up since the battle, and he spent long hours under Oin's watchful eye. He did his best to help his family but often the headaches from the latest wound kept him from doing much at all. Oin said he would get better, but that he needed to rest and let his head recover.

 

Gloin and Dori had surprisingly decided to work together to prepare for the new Guilds that would be setting up as soon as Erebor was more populated. The two didn't always get along, arguing over things that one always thought was more important than other. Yet, between the both of them, the plans got done efficiently and quickly. Most of the Company were a little confused at Dori's interest in this, but Nori and Ori only exchanged a look as they remembered their brother's need to organize everything. 

 

Nori was the only one without a job to put her time into. She felt off balance, unsure where to go, what to do. She didn't exactly have the kind of skills that were helpful at this point in their quest. She'd thought... well, she'd never expected to live this long. When she had thought of the future, all she could herself doing that wasn't thievery, was watching out for her king. She'd never expected to feel loyalty to Thorin, only respect and perhaps some irritation. But after months on the road, Nori had realized that she did care. It had been a strange and disorienting thought.

 

But that was in the past. Thorin was dead, and whatever position she may have been able to convince him to give her was gone with him. 

 

Nori felt useless. She couldn't go drinking with Bofur today, the other dwarrowdam was on emergency duty as a ceiling had collapsed in one of the halls. She wasn't strong enough, or knowledgeable enough to help with rebuilding, and Oin had forbidden it anyway, what with her broken ribs. Trying to help Dori only ended in stupid arguments and Ori finally snapping at the two of them to shut up. 

 

Everyone was so busy all the time, and Nori had done her best to be helpful, but always ended up standing around with nothing to do. Most of the time, she would be fine with it, but Bofur had waved her off today. Not in cruelty or spite, Bo wasn't the type, but the fact that her best friend had sent her off only added to Nori's unease and feeling of uselessness. 

 

When was the last time she'd been able to just hang with Bofur? Not since the quest had started, that was for certain. Their need to stay low had prevented them from doing much once they'd left the Shire. And Nori had been tense for the entire trip, trying to protect her siblings, the royals and her own ass all at once. 

 

No, the last time they'd been able to have real fun had been before either of them had even known about the quest. When Bofur and her had bet on some card game whose outcome she couldn't even remember, and Bofur had lost the bet like always. The other dwarrowdam had just laughed, and started a bawdy drinking song that ended up with them being shoved out of the bar. 

 

It had been a nice night, she'd gone home with a warm feeling in her gut, one that lasted even through Dori's habitual lecturing. Though that may have just been the drink. Or a lingering bit of the warmth that went up her spine when Bofur's thigh pressed against hers as they sat together.

 

Bofur was the one person Nori had never expected to shrug her off. It stung, even though she understood the reasoning behind it, Bo did have work to do. 

 

Like a flood, all feelings she'd been trying to ignore came rushing in after that. She'd stepped outside to give herself something to focus on beside her own exhaustion. Her ribs burned, her head still throbbed, vestiges of the battle. Her mind felt slow, grief that she thought she would have shaken off by now working its way in through the seams of her mind. She _would_ have shaken it off by now if it had been anyone else. But no, her family's friends, people she'd grown to care at least a little about had died. 

 

Nori wanted to get out. Her feet itched to travel, so that she could forget everything. 

 

But the links she had to the others, to her siblings, to her friends in the Company, dead and still breathing, to her One, held her here.

 

Nori felt trapped, stuck between learning to feel comfortable here, and letting her instincts take over. She'd escaped to the battlements, leaning against the edge and looking out over the land, hoping to come to a decision while she was out here. 

 

Footsteps crunched on the rock behind her, and she stiffened and spun around. Dain watched her, amused look in his eyes. “You've got good ears,” he said, walking forward to join her. 

 

“Comes in handy,” Nori replied, “Makes it harder to get caught.”

 

“Good for a thief, then,” Dain said.

 

Nori nodded, wondering why Dain was here with her.

 

“Not helping with the reconstruction?”

 

Nori sent him a sharp look. “Don't exactly have the skills for it. Don't even have Amad's strength to lift shit.”

 

Dain looked curious, “Your mother was strong?”

 

Nori snorted, “You ever seen Dori fight?”

 

“No...” Dain said, sounding thoughtful before he shook himself out of it. “You do have skills.”

 

Rolling her eyes, Nori huffed, “Yeah, sneaking and hiding. Not what we need right now.”

 

“I disagree.”

 

“What?” Nori asked, facing him now instead of looking out over the landscape. 

 

Daim gave her a smile she could only describe as sly. Unexpected; she thought she might just grow to like this king. “Listen, I know Thorin was planning on asking you to be Spymaster, Balin told me– ”

 

Nori froze, like rabbit confronted by a predator. Her mind attempted to reorder itself around those words, to make sense of what he said.  

 

“Oh,” Dain interrupted himself. “Didn't tell you, did he?”

 

Nori shook her head, still reeling. Thorin had wanted her to spy for him? And she knew that she would have done it, had he been here to ask. 

 

Dain grumbled something under his breath, something about idiot cousins. “Well, he was. Even if he couldn't be bothered to tell ya. And I trust Thorin's judgment. Well, on some things.”

 

She narrowed her eyes at that, meeting his gaze and seeing his sincerity. “I know I'm nothing like Thorin,” Dain continued. “But I need someone smart, and good at not getting caught, or I might just end up dead in a week.”

 

“I think you'd last longer than a week,” Nori said, thinking of that smile. She met his eyes, pondering the offer. “No,” she said slowly. “You're not Thorin.” She shrugged at that, listless, “But if you're gonna offer me a position like that, it's certainly more interesting than standing around with nothing to do.” 

 

Dain grinned at her, tusks in his mustache shifting with the movement. “You'd have to sign a contract.”

 

“Already signed one. What's another at this point?” Nori said, grinning back. This was definitely going to be interesting.

 

\- - -

 

The dwarrows of the Iron Hills had had Dain for too long as a leader, and loved him too much to want him dead. Still, even after only a few weeks, the news of the quest and its accomplishments had spread and even in Erebor she could feel the shudder of the underground start to whisper. 

 

Some people wouldn't be too happy about Erebor being reclaimed. Criminals, and even some nobles, who had benefited from the fall of the kingdom would be looking for an out. Rules and laws were less enforced without Erebor around and the unregulated little villages and cities of dwarrows let corrupt officials and thieves alike prey on the weak. Now that Erebor back in the game, the shift in the balance of power would upset the happy little systems they'd put in place. 

 

When Nori decided to go with Bombur, Bofur, Balin and Gloin back to Ered Luin, she passed it off as a reconnaissance mission. 

 

“I bet if trouble starts, it'll start there,” she told Dain. “I need to go and see what the situation is like before any of them start making their way here.”

 

“Wouldn't they know you were part of the Company?” he had asked. 

 

Nori had smirked at him, “You think I told them my real name?”

 

Dain paused, “No, now that I think about it.”

 

“You gonna tell me not to go?” Nori checked, expecting more resistance than she got.

 

“I'm relying on the hope that you know more about this sort of thing than me,” Dain said honestly.

 

“So what, as long as I don't mess up you'll just let me do what I want?”

 

“I'd like if you told before you do something,” Dain replied. “But I'd also like to trust you not to fuck up.”

 

Nori blinked at him then smiled, a flash of teeth, “I like your policy.”

 

\- - -

 

The journey back to Ered Luin was a lot quieter than the quest had been. When it was just the five of them that were leaving,  attacks on their party were rare. Orcs and wargs, population down since the battle and still running scared, left them alone. Bandits tried to get the jump on them once near Bree but were sent back with their tails between their legs.  

 

Nori spent a lot of time on the trip back wavering over what to do about her relationship with Bofur. It'd been long enough that she couldn't just pass off her feelings as a crush or simple attraction. She'd gone on the quest to protect the people she cared about... the people she loved. It was impossible to write that choice off as nothing. 

 

Courting wasn't something she'd ever wanted before, and now that she finally had the chance to tell Bofur and take a step towards it, she felt uncertain. Nori had no idea if Bofur would even want to court, and how far should she read into their interactions to figure that out? 

 

Her One was within her grasp, but she was struggling. Plus Nori hadn't bothered to remember courting practices, so sure she would never use them. Now she couldn't recall the usual courting steps. The only thing she could think of was giving a gift of your chosen partner's craft, which thankfully was the first step. 

 

Which would go swimmingly, considering mining was not an easy option for a courting gift and she had no idea how to carve. Well, no idea how to carve anything recognizable.

 

She wished she could skip this whole courting thing. Nori would much rather just fuck Bofur and let things work themselves out from there. But she knew how much of a romantic Bofur was, and that idea felt almost like betraying her. 

 

... At least if she cut a finger off, Bofur would know her feelings were definitely real. Nori wouldn't risk her fingers for just anyone. 

 

\- - -

 

Carving was taking longer than she suspected. Nori glared at the latest piece of wood. Weeks it'd been, and she'd only managed to ruin five chunks of wood. Not good pieces, mind, but it was getting irritating. She'd ask for advice, but Bifur wasn't with them and she wasn't about to ask Bo for help on this gift. 

 

She flipped the latest carving over in her hand, trying to see where she had gone wrong. The ears and face of the fox were still recognizable, but the body and feet seemed to have degenerated into nothing. Nori tossed her failure into the fire in front of her, deciding she was done for the day. Or possibly the whole week. 

 

She sat back, watching the fire consume the wood. A tap on her shoulder had her looking up, and she shuffled over as Bofur dropped next to her. “What's got you glaring at the fire?” Bo asked, looking amused at the thief’s ire. 

 

Nori shrugged lazily. “Nothing important,” she replied, avoiding the topic. Bofur would find out when Nori had the gift ready, and no earlier. She glanced at Bofur, noting how her friend had seemed tense the last few days. “You ready to be back in Ered Luin?”

 

Bofur smiled, tugging her hat off to leave it on the ground next to them. “I can't wait t' see all the little ones again. Bombur's excited, more than me, you know. He's missed them all so much. I've been planning to make them all something, welcome gifts or somethin'.” She nudged Nori, “Wha' about you?”

 

Nori leaned back, thinking about it. “Don't care too much, to be truthful. My home is with my siblings, and they're still in Erebor. There are some people I'll be glad to see, but I'm hoping to convince them to come with us.”

 

“I'm assuming these are fellow thieves, unless I know them?”

 

“Thieves, yeah,” Nori said, “ Or something like that.” She thought of the girls (though they were all of age now and so not truly girls anymore) she had accidentally collected, like shiny trinkets in a magpie's nest. Sisda, stable and serious without being stern. Liha, more confident than was perhaps wise and moral to a fault. Uloin, who seemed innocent, but had a deeper side of playfulness and lingering sadness. She'd taught them what she'd learned over her life as thief, kept them out of trouble as best she could. Bringing them to Erebor would just be one more step to make their lives better. 

 

Bofur nodded seriously, then gave her a blinding grin. “We'll have to get one last drink in Ered Luin, yeah? Just like old times.”

 

Nori raised an eyebrow at Bofur, “Bet I can get some of the old guards to chase me around a bit, if we're going for nostalgia here?”

 

Bofur laughed, “Like I'd bet on that. That's a sure thing, and you know it.”

 

“Don't know,” Nori said musingly, “Dwalin won't be there for me to piss off. The other guards tend to be little less worried about catching me.”

 

“Good,” Bofur said, shaking her head. “Then you'd end up getting beat up too, and I'd have to drag you home bleeding.”

 

“I thought you wanted to recreate old times?” Nori said, teasing, her eyes wide and innocent. 

 

Bofur snorted, “Then I'd be dragging you home drunk as shit.”

 

“True,” Nori conceded. “It will feel weird to be back,” she added, looking up at the sky. “I didn't expect to be coming back.”

 

“You need to look on the bright side more often, Nori. We made it, didn't we?”

 

“Not all of us.”

 

Bofur was silent for a long time, but her arm was pressed to Nori's as they sat and watched the fire. Finally she sighed, "Will be little strange t' be back, you're right in that. After everything that's happened."

 

"Good story for the bar crowd," Nori said, smirking a little at the thought. It might be good tale, but it wasn't one she'd be telling in a bar, especially not to her fellow cons. 

 

"Reckon I could get everyone going if I told it," Bofur added. "Bet it'd even get some of those old codgers out of their cups." 

 

Nori snorted, "Yeah, then we'd be treated to another lecture about the glory days, and it's our fault that everything went to shit."

 

 Bofur shook her head, but there was a smile on her lips, "Listen to you. Didn't your mother ever teach you to respect your elders?"

 

"Nah," Nori said, leaning back on the her hands. "She was too busy not following their rules."

 

Laughing, Bofur offered her pouch of pipeweed to Nori, who took some gratefully. They both lit their pipes, then Bofur smiled and turned to her. "Did I ever tell you about that time Amad got arrested?"

Nori shook her head, interest already peaked, and settled in as Bofur began. The story soon drew the rest of their traveling group in and Nori mourned for a brief second the loss of closeness between her and Bofur.

 

But Bo was still telling the story to her, eyes on her the whole time to see her reaction to the best parts. 

 

\- - -

 

It was only another few weeks before they reached the Shire. They'd decided to make a stop here before they left Erebor, sending a letter to Bilbo to warn them of their plans.

 

The hobbit who answered the door to Bag End looked tired, but healthier than they had been when they'd left Erebor. And their smile was brighter than it had been when they had said goodbye at the gates. Grief still lingered around Bilbo, Nori though it always would, but they hadn't succumbed to it. 

 

Bofur had been happy to her friend, lifting the hobbit off the ground in a hug that had the smaller demanding to be let down with a laugh in their voice. The two had slipped back into their comfortable relationship as though nothing had happened; Bofur telling the hobbit jokes and stories about events in Erebor since they had left. 

 

Nori slipped in her own anecdotes every once in while, letting Bo do most of the talking. She liked the hobbit, but hadn't done much to foster a good relationship. Nori felt a little bad about that now, but seemed too late now. Either way, Bilbo seemed glad to have them all there, fussing around with tea and cookies with a smile on their face as they listened. 

 

Gloin, Bofur and Bombur seemed to slide into the hobbitish lifestyle easily. Bombur enjoyed the frequent meals while Gloin seemed to love bargaining at the market. Bofur had at least three hobbit children following her around while outside and she happily set about telling stories and putting braids in their little curls. Balin preferred to smoke his pipe in Bilbo's garden, sharing polite conversation with passers-by. 

 

Nori liked the Shire, but she had to admit to being distracted. She wanted to finish the carving before they reached Ered Luin, but the wood seemed determined to ignore her wishes. She took to hiding herself about the smial while the others were out and trying to finish her fox. 

 

(Nori would swear later that she'd been too distracted by her task to notice the approaching footsteps one day. Blaming the strange hobbit magic that allowed them to move near silently and got strangers lost on their paths, she'd swear that under normal circumstances she'd have noticed Bilbo.)

 

"What's that?"

 

Nori jumped, knife almost slipping before she caught herself.

 

"Oh, dear, sorry!" Bilbo exclaimed, setting the tea set down as they moved to look over Nori's hands. "You didn't hurt yourself, did you? I didn't mean to startle you."

 

"I'm fine," Nori insisted, letting them worry over her hands for a second, the hobbit reminding her of Dori in that moment.

 

Once Bilbo was satisfied, they leaned back, watching her with a curious look. "I didn't think you carved."

 

"I'm learning. Slowly," Nori replied, presenting the half-finished animal ruefully. 

 

Bilbo leaned over to inspect it, tea forgotten next to them. "From Bofur?"

 

Nori responded without thinking about it, laughing, "Definitely not."

 

Bilbo blinked, "Why?"

 

Nori bit her lip, cursing herself for letting that slip. It was Bilbo's face. Like Bofur ,the hobbit just looked one of those people you could tell everything to, but she knew they were tricky and cunning under that kind face. She sighed, giving in because what did it matter at this point?

 

Bilbo was still looking at her expectantly. Nori realized she had no idea what to say. "I ... I don't want her to know just yet," she said finally, grimacing at the lackluster response. 

 

She could see when Bilbo started to get it. "Oh, this is for her?" they asked, and gentle hands pressed the carving back to her and reached for the tea set. "This was for Balin," they said blithely , "But I think you need it more."

 

Nori took the cup gratefully, doing her best to ignore the continuing mental comparisons to Dori. "Thanks. And it is."

 

Bilbo nodded in understanding. "Having difficulties?"

 

"Just a bit. I want to look better than it is"

 

"I'm sure she'll love it, no matter its looks."

 

Nori froze at that, glancing up at Bilbo. She thought that Fíli or Kíli had explained courting customs to Bilbo during the trip, so it was likely that they knew what she was making. The hobbit also had gotten close to Bofur during the quest. Who knows what she had told them? Bilbo only winked at her, and asked for her explanation of what she was attempting to carve.

 

\- - -

 

Nori slipped into Bofur's room in Ered Luin. For a second, she just stood by the doorway, remembering how different everything had been when she'd last been there. So much had changed since then. She wondered how strange it would be for Bofur to go from this tiny place to the rooms awaiting her in Erebor. 

 

She stepped over to the little table. She'd thought about this for a long time. Nori hadn't been able to decide how she wanted to present her courtship gift. She knew she should give it to Bo face to face but her mind kept reminding her how awkward it would be, how Bofur might reject her. 

 

Leaving her gift at Bofur's for her to find later was cowardly for sure, but she'd never claimed to be brave. At least this way, she wouldn't have to see how Bofur reacted, and she could find out her answer later instead of waiting with her heart in her mouth for Bofur's response in person.

 

Nori had done her best with the gift. The first courting gift was supposed to show the depths of your feelings and the dedication you would put into the relationship. 

 

She'd spent most of the trip here working on it, practicing until she could the carve the wood well enough for the figure to be evident. A fox, curled tightly, with her own name carved onto the bottom in case it wasn't obvious who it was from. Nori looked at it one more time, wishing she could fix it, make it better. 

 

No, if she put it away now to "fix" it, she'd never take it out again. It would go into a chest, tucked underneath the clothes she hardly ever wore that sat at the bottom. Nori didn't want that to happen. She might be a coward, but she couldn't bring herself to give up on this just yet. 

 

Running her thumb over the soft wood, she placed the fox in the center of the table. She went to leave, forcing herself not to look back at it, because if she did she'd try to take it. 

 

Stepping outside, she closed the door and leant on the wall next to it. Nori took a deep breath, cursing her cowardice, and tilted her head back. 

 

That was when Bofur called her name.

 

Nori jolted upright, nervousness sparking through her. Bofur wasn't supposed to be yet. Soon, yeah, it was past dinnertime but now! She wasn't supposed to be here when Bofur found it. 

 

“What are you doing here?” Bofur asked, bright with welcome. “I thought you were busy taking care of stuff for Dori.”

 

Nori shrugged, appearing nonchalant but hoping she could make her escape soon. “Wondering how your packing was going.”

 

Bofur grimaced for a second. “Haven't started yet. There isn't much to do, but I haven't felt like it yet.” She smiled as she said the last part but Nori saw a far-away look in her eyes for a second. 

 

Then Bofur shook the look off, and asked, “Did you need any help with anything?”

 

“No, I'll be fine. Dori isn't expecting me to bring everything we own back with me, just a few things that shouldn't be too hard to get.”

 

Bofur appeared a little crestfallen that her help wasn't needed, then nodded at her door. “Did you want to come in, or were you here to go drinking?”

 

Nori thought about distracting Bofur with alcohol. It felt like a cop-out, like she was being a coward again. Instead she told the truth, “I already went in.”

 

Narrowing her eyes at the thief, Bofur tried the door handle and looked amused when it opened. “When did you start breaking into my place?”

 

“Whenever you weren't there.”

 

Bofur shook her head, smile still playing across her lips. She pushed open her door, and stepped into the room. Nori hovered behind her, thinking darkly that it was too late to cut and run now. She was trapped. By social convention no less, Dori would have been laughing his ass off.

 

Nori could tell when Bofur noticed the carving on the table. She tilted her head, and walked forward to pick the animal up. Nori watched as she turned it over, fingers tracing the name underneath. 

 

“Nori” she whispered, sounding almost distraught and Nori winced bodily, wanting to leave but unable to bring herself to it. Bofur spun around in her heel, white-knuckled hand clutching the fox. “This is from you? A courting gift?”

 

Nori swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded.

 

\- - -

 

Bofur wasn't sure if she was surprised or not to find Nori lingering outside her door. The thief did like to show up at random and frequently inconvenient times, but not normally to hover outside her door with that unfamiliar lost puppy look on her face. 

 

That definitely was the strangest thing about finding Nori here. Nori wasn't the type to make faces like that. She could play a blank face better than anyone Bofur knew, which explained how she won most of their card games. The lost puppy look was disconcerting, to say the least. 

 

Usually that type of look only showed up when Nori'd been fighting with Dori again. Like Nori getting kicked out of the house type fighting, not bickering type fighting, because, as Bofur had learned on the quest, Nori and Dori bickered all the time. 

 

Still, she wasn't going to complain about Nori hanging around. Sometimes it felt like she barely knew her best friend, her One. They'd been friends for so long now, decades, but until the quest Bofur had always felt like Nori was keeping so much from her. 

 

That feeling had lessened after spending months in close companionship with Nori, and her siblings. Bofur liked both of them, Dori's quiet caring and Ori's intelligence and shy excitement. She wished that they were her family too, that she could have been introduced as Nori's One. 

 

But that wasn't going to happen, was it? Bofur had resigned herself to that not long after meeting Nori. Nori never wanted to court, she'd made that pretty obvious early on in their friendship. Bofur admitted it disappointed her, to know her One didn't want her like that, to know that she'd fallen in love right away and Nori didn't. 

 

But she'd rather have Nori as a close friend than not know her at all. Or to have to watch from a distance because Nori had rejected her, as both a friend and a lover. 

 

Nori asked about her packing, and Bofur realized she'd spaced out. She hadn't started getting ready to leave, not that there was much to do. It felt so weird, to be thinking about leaving Ered Luin. She'd spent her entire life here, dwarfling to adult and a part of her wasn't quite ready to move just yet. 

 

When Nori told her she'd picked the door, Bofur just laughed. She remembered the time when Nori had slid her key under her door after falling asleep here. Nori hadn't waited for her to wake up then, why would she wait for her this time?

 

Bofur noticed the figurine on the table as soon as she walked in. A carved fox, curled around itself. But a fox...who would have left it? Who could have left it? She tried to calm the fluttering of her heart, pushing away her hopes. Hoping for a clue, she flipped it over and froze. 

 

“Nori,” she whispered. She couldn't believe it. This looked like a courting gift. But Nori, Nori didn't want to court, right? Was she taunting her? Bofur didn't think Nori could be that cruel. 

 

She spun around, holding the fox tightly. If it wasn't a taunt. “This is from you? A courting gift?” Did Nori really... ?

 

Nori's face had only twisted further into that lost puppy look, more vulnerable than Bofur had ever seen before. She was far behind her, lurking near the door and Bofur realized Nori was ready to run. She's nervous. Bofur had never seen her look nervous before. It's real, her brain screamed. It's real!

 

“I-,” Nori started, hands twitching in a way Bofur had only ever seen her do before a fight. “I – want to court you.” It came out stumbling, her words tripping over themselves. 

 

Bofur was sure she nearly let out a sob, overwhelmed. “I didn't think that you...” she said, stepping closer to Nori cautiously. 

 

Nori shrugged, shoulders tight, “I changed my mind.” Then she sighed, shoulders dropping lower as she looked down at the ground. “You don't deserve a coward like me, who can't even decide what they want.” Nori said it in hardly more than a whisper, so quiet Bofur strained to hear it. 

 

Bofur took another step, so that now Nori was close enough to touch. She reached out, touching her hand until Nori met her eyes. Then she twisted their fingers together, innerly rejoicing as Nori let her do it instead of pulling away like normal. “I think that's my choice, yeah?” she said, smiling up at her until Nori relaxed.

 

Nori smiled back, and Bofur nearly cheered, pulling their entangled hands towards her until Nori had to step forward to keep from falling. Now nose-to-nose, Bofur let her expression morph into something challenging, grinning at her. When Nori huffed out a laugh, she could feel it on her lips. When Nori leaned in closer, she could feel the gentlest touch of her lips on hers. When Nori eliminated the tiny gap left between them to kiss her thoroughly, Bofur thought her persistent smile might prevent further kissing. When Nori curled her fingers into her hair, and pulled away to smirk at her, lips red and swollen, Bofur wondered if it was possible to burst from happiness. 

 

\- - -

 

Bofur ran a hand through the tangles in Nori's hair. Frowning, she contemplated the problem that had been set before her. 

 

She had no gift to give Nori and officially start their courtship. No ideas what to give her either. You were supposed to make something in the other's craft, but Bofur had no skill at stealing. And she wasn't sure that really counted, since she wouldn't have made it herself. 

 

She could just carve Nori something, but then other dwarrows might think that implied that she didn't feel as strongly about Nori as Nori did for her. That definitely wasn't true. She'd loved Nori from the minute they'd first talked, and Bofur wanted to everyone, especially Nori and her family, to know that. 

 

As she thought, her fingers had paused, and now Nori pushed her head back into her head with a grumpy noise. Bofur laughed, marveling at her position, that she was allowed to touch Nori like this. “You sound like a great big cat, love.”

 

“And you're more chatty than a bird in springtime,” Nori muttered. When Bofur didn't immediately respond with a quip back, she sighed and pulled away to face her. “What's wrong?” she demanded, crossing her arms as she watched Bofur.

 

“I don't know what to give you for a courting gift,” Bofur confessed.

 

Nori rolled her eyes, “I'd think you'd know by now that I don't give a shit what you give me.”

“I care.”

 

Nori softened, and leaned over to skim her fingertip down the braid she'd added to Bofur's hair. “Just make me some pretty jewelry, out of wood or something. Technically, it fits tradition.”

 

Bofur blinked, “You have two crafts?”

 

Grimacing, Nori looked away. “I had two crafts. The jewelry master was a piece of shit, wanted more than we could pay for my lessons. I found out that I had two crafts when I came back to steal from him for it.”

 

Bofur took Nori's hand and said in sudden understanding. “You stopped practicing your other craft...”

 

“And lost whatever talent I had for it,” Nori finished. “I realized a few years later that I couldn't even fix a stupid pin and haven't tried since.” She shrugged, "I'm okay with it, you know I love what I can do."

 

Bofur huffed and held her hand tighter. “I'll just have to make you something beautiful.”

 

“Just told you I don't need anything fancy.”

 

“Yeah, but you'll look so lovely,” Bofur said, pressing a kiss to Nori's cheek. 

 

The other dwarrowdam pushed her away with a huff. “Stop it with this soppy shit, Bo.”

 

“You like it.”

 

“It's annoying.”

 

“And you're a dirty liar.”

 

“True.”

 

Bofur laughed, and pulled Nori in for a kiss. Nori hummed into it, running her fingers over her jawline playfully. Then she frowned and pulled away. "While I'm thinking about it, you do know the next steps of courtship right? 'Cause I have no fucking clue. You're lucky I remembered this step."

 

Bofur rolled her eyes, "I'd say I was surprised, but then I'd be the liar. Yes, I remember." 

 

"Good," Nori said, then smirked at her One. "I think you should explain them to me."

 

"Explain them?" Bofur asked, confused. 

 

Nori sighed, and pushed Bofur down onto the bed, hands on either side of her head. "Yes, explain."

 

"Oh. I can definitely do that."

 

\- - -

  
Nori opened the door to Uloin and Liha's place, rolling her eyes when the handle turned under her hand. Sometimes she would swear that everything she'd tried to teach these girls had just gone in one ear and out the other. Their voices were loud enough to be heard from outside, and she paused once she'd got the door open, leaning against the frame and just listening. 

 

“Liha! What did you do?” Sisda questioned, a dress with a hole in the side spread across her lap. 

 

“Nothing, promise!” Liha said, hands up defensively. 

 

“Then what happened to your face?” Sisda laying the dress away carefully, to examine Liha's face.

 

Liha looked unwilling to respond. “Liha tripped in the kitchen and slammed face first on the edge of the counter,” Uloin explained, sitting next to Sisda with her head on her shoulder.

 

"Why am I not surprised," Sisda said dryly, going back to her dress. "Look where you're going or you'll do more then bang up your face."

 

"It's not like I'm going around blindfolded," Liha complained, looking ready to stick out her tongue. 

 

“That would make life a little difficult,” Nori replied, and she smirked when all three spun around to face her. 

 

“Nori!” the girls shouted, and all ran forward to crush her in a hug. Nori wheezed at the sudden pressure around her ribcage, but held them closer. For a second. Then she shoved them all away. 

 

“You made it back!” Uloin gasped happily, clapping her hands together. She bounced on her heels, beaming.

 

“Was there fighting?” Liha demanded to know.

 

“How did you survive the dragon?” Sisda asked.

 

“Are you gonna let me in, or force me to tell the story while half out the door?” Nori teased, grinning when they all immediately stepped back to pull her into the room. 

 

“So?” Liha pushed. 

 

Nori rolled her eyes at the younger dwarrowdam's exuberance but started the story anyway. By the time she finished, Uloin was perched precariously on her chair, Liha's eye were wide, and Sisda looked like she was calculating every error they'd made in the quest.

 

“Erebor is reclaimed!” Liha cheered. 

 

“We'd heard,” Sisda continued. “But it was hard to believe, without any of the Company here to confirm the story.”

 

“It's sounds like a scary journey,” Ulon said thoughtfully. 

 

“Won't be so bad going back now,” Nori said, shrugging. “Now that we've cleared out a lot of the orcs and wargs around the Misty Mountains.”

 

“Are you going back?” Sisda asked, watching her with those clear, intelligent eyes. 

 

Nori nodded nonchalantly. “My siblings are there now. And the new King under the Mountain promised me a good position. Besides, can you even imagine how much gold I've got now? No way I'm not going back to that.”

 

“Oh,” Liha said, “You're leaving.” She sounded strange, like she'd just thought of this possibility. 

 

Nori raised an eyebrow, “Are you?”

 

“Are we?” Uloin asked in reply, glancing at her friends. 

 

Sisda tilted her head while Liha frowned in thought. “Why not?” Sisda decided, rolling her shoulders back.

 

Liha looked unconvinced. “My job is here.”

 

“We're going to need a lot of workers,” Nori replied. “Especially cooks.”

 

Uloin reached over to take Liha's hand. She turned to Sisda, who took one look at them and nodded to Nori. 

 

Nori grinned. “We're planning to head out in a week. Think you can be ready?”

 

\- - -

 

Nori sat across the table from Gyer, for once meeting in one of his several hidden abodes and not in some random bar. 

 

“I didn't think you'd make it back,” he said, not beating around the bush.

 

Nori replied in kind. “Neither did I.”

 

Gyer nodded, accepting her response easily. “I'm glad you did make it back. I'd ask for the story myself, but I'm sure I'll hear it eventually from somewhere. Multiple times.”

 

Nori decided not to keeping pursuing small talk. She'd came here for a reason. Gyer had been her mentor for years. He'd taught her everything he knew, before she’d moved on to learning on her own. He was old now, having lived since decades before Smaug came to Erebor. 

 

Gyer was a good thief, had been one of the best. But he'd never been good at following the rules of the boss, Durek, and it was only his prowess and Durek's favoritism that had kept him safe. And now that Nori was one of the Company, even if it wasn't widely know yet, and soon to be known as Erebor's Spymaster, he was in danger. Everyone who was anyone knew that he had taught her, he wouldn't be trusted by other thieves soon. If Nori could get him to Erebor before then, she could keep an eye on him, in a way age was making difficult for him to do himself. 

 

“Are you coming with me?” Nori asked, watching him for any sign of agreement.

 

“I don't need your protection, Nori,” Gyer responded, getting to the heart of the argument in seconds. 

 

“You're old, Gyer.”

 

“Not getting old?”

 

“I've been saying that for too long and you know it.”

 

“You've changed since you left, Nori,” Gyer said, smiling fondly at her. 

 

“Don't know what you're on about.” Nori stood up, sensing a good time to end the conversation. “We leave in a week, meeting at the south edge of the city.”

 

Gyer nodded after a long, tense moment, and Nori knew he'd be there. 

 

\- - -

 

Uloin stood on her tip-toes, straining to see over the heads of the crowd gathered at the edge of the city. “I don't see Nori,” she said worriedly, “and her hair is pretty distinctive.”

 

“She might not be here yet,” Liha soothed. 

 

“Wouldn't be surprised if she's busy,” Sisda said. “I'm pretty sure she's spying for the king now, so she'l be busy.”

 

“What?” Liha said, face scrunching in confusion. “Where did you get that idea? She never told us anything like that.”

 

“She said she was working for the king,” Sisda explained her reasoning. “It's Nori, she's good at sneaking and getting information. You guys remember what happened with Ovan? She spent a week pretending to be just another worker of his, then got the guards to completely dismantle his business in less than a day. What else would Nori be doing?”

 

“That's a good point,” Liha conceded. 

 

Uloin nodded thoughtfully, then looked worried. “Do you think she might get in trouble with Durek? I know she was one of his favorite thieves, but if she's spying and he finds out...”

 

“He won't find out,” Liha said, confident in Nori's abilities. 

 

Sisda nodded, bumping shoulders with Uloin comfortingly. “Nori should be better than that.”

 

“I'd feel better if she were here,' Uloin said, wringing her hands together.

 

“She is,” Liha suddenly, staring openly. “But I don't think we should go talk just yet.”

 

“Where?” Uloin asked, spinning around. “Why?”

 

Then “Oh! Ohhh...”. Giggling ensued. 

 

Sisda rolled her eyes at her ridiculous friends, “They're just holding hands.”

 

“Yeah but it's Nori!” Liha said.

 

“That's practically a love confession!” Uloin added.

 

Sisda shook her head, but watched curiously. Nori and other be-hatted dwarrow were tucked in a corner, out of sight for most. She was sure that if Nori knew someone was looking, that hand would get dropped in a second. Actually it was a little surprising that Nori hadn't done so already. Nori must really like whoever it was.  “Who is that?”

 

Liha frowned, “They've been at the cafeteria before, so they're probably a miner. I've seen them with Nori before, actually.” 

 

“And you didn't tell us?” Uloin scolded, smacking her arm. 

 

“They were just talking before!” Liha defended herself, swatting Uloin away. 

 

“I still would have wanted to know!” Uloin said.

 

Sisda ignored their bickering, watching until Nori pulled away from her 'friend' and looked around. Their eyes met, and Sisda glanced between the two older dwarrow, just to watch Nori turn red and glare. Nori moved forward to greet them, and the dwarrow she had been with followed, curiosity in their eyes. 

 

“Nori's coming over here,” Sisda said, stopping Uloin and Liha in their tracks.

 

As soon as Nori was within hearing distance, Liha smiled mischievously, and called, “Having a good morning Nori?” The be-hatted dwarrow chocked out a laugh behind Nori's back, eye twinkling and hand pressed to their mouth.

 

Nori rolled her eyes. “Fine, thanks,” she replied sarcastically. “Nice to know you all showed up.”

 

“Did you think we wouldn't?” Liha pressed a hand to her chest, feigning offense. 

 

The unfamiliar dwarrow interrupted before Nori could say anything in return. “Who are these lovely ladies then?” they asked, grinning. 

 

Nori sighed, “Bo, this is Liha, Uloin and Sisda. I've been making sure they didn't get themselves killed.”

 

“We weren't going to end up dead,” Uloin said, pouting. 

 

“No, just badly beaten,” Nori countered. “Girls, this is Bofur, daughter of Kofur. She's another member of the Company.”

 

There were polite greetings all around. Nori noticed someone else, and waved off the rest of them, going to greet whoever it was alone. “So...” Bofur said, rocking back on her heels, “how many stories can you tell me about Nori before she gets back?”

 

Liha's eyes lit up. 

 

\- - -

 

Nori was taking her sweet time to get back to them. Liha hadn't exhausted her supply of stories yet, but Bofur had decided to save them for later, looking amused at the flow of information. She'd waved down another group of dwarrows, and within seconds, they found themselves swarmed by dwarflings. 

 

Bofur grinned and hugged all of them in turn. Three adults followed behind the children, looking tired in that way parents always did. Liha was surprised to realize she recognized one of them, another cook, Halla. Bofur knocked foreheads with the round dwarrow, then set about introducing them. 

 

Liha greeted Halla, who happily started musing with her on where they might find work when they reached Erebor. Uloin sat down on the ground to play with the little ones, letting them braid her dark hair. Cael, the husband of another member of the Company who had stayed behind, told Sisda about his strangely shaped sword when she asked. They slipped into a heated discussions on the different weapon designs of the dwarven clans.

 

Nori came back, raising an eyebrow at the coziness of the group. She whispered something to Bofur, then said to everyone, "We should be moving soon. I just talked with Balin and Dís and everything's ready to go."

 

Bombur nodded, and began to help his wife rally the children. Soon the caravan of dwarrows was off, and the city was left emptier than it had been for a century.

 

\- - -

 

The caravan of dwarves had paused for the night. Liha was already snoring next to her, and Sisda was at the edge of the camp, on watch duty with a few others. There shouldn't be problems between Ered Luin and the Shire, but they took the precautions nonetheless. 

 

Uloin couldn't sleep. She was glad to be leaving Ered Luin, for all the good memories she had there of her friends, there were also many bad ones. Uloin was excited to have the chance to start anew and build fresh memories without the old taint of death lingering on them. 

 

Yet leaving the mountains had been hard. She was used to the slight feeling of connection to the rock, the sense that the mountain was close by. That stone sense she had always had, while bringing back terrible visions of her mother's death, was still something she associated with home. 

 

Most of the other dwarrows barely felt the change from rocky mountain side to soft, fertile earth, but it had kept her awake for much of the past few nights. 

 

As had her own anxieties. 

 

Uloin wasn't sure what she'd do when they reached Erebor. For Liha and Sisda, both of them had crafts they were good at. Liha could easily get a job as a cook and Nori had promised to look into a tailor's apprenticeship for Sisda. 

 

But Uloin couldn't use her craft, couldn't sense the stone unless she wanted to cause herself pain. She'd been able to steal in Ered Luin, never was too good at it, but it was something to do while her friends worked. 

 

A gentle hand touched her shoulder, and she twitched sharply, only to find Nori watching her. “Alright there?” she asked, sitting next to her. 

 

“I'm just worried,” Uloin admitted. When Nori raised an eyebrow, she continued, “About what I”ll do when we got to Erebor. I'm not good at anything!”

 

“Now that's not true,” Nori said evenly. “And I know what you'd be good at. But it's your choice if you want to do it or not.”

 

Uloin looked at her questioningly, and Nori kept going, “You're good at sneaking.” Uloin opened her mouth to object and Nori held up a hand to stop her. “You are, Uloin. You don't think you are because you get caught. But the problem is not that you can't sneak, it's that you get nervous once you've taken something, and people notice that nervousness. If we remove the stealing part, you could be very good at sneaking. I'll definitely need another pair of eyes, and I think you fit the bill just fine.”

 

“You want me to spy with you?” Uloin said, breathless. 

 

“Yeah, why not?” Nori said. “Besides your abilities, who'd suspect that face?” She winked, and Uloin felt like lightening had struck her. She felt bright and excited, and before she knew it she was agreeing to work for Nori. 

 

Nori grinned, teeth bared behind her lips and Uloin returned it. 

 

“Don't worry, Uloin, this is going to be fun." 

 

\- - -

 

Once again, when they reached the edge of the Shire, the group of dwarrows from the Company (and their families with them) turned to enter it. They split off from the main body of the caravan, and Nori heard Dís order the caravan to pause outside the Shire's borders to "rest and prepare for the harder parts of the journey". 

 

Nori wondered why Dís did not join them to greet Bilbo, but she got the feeling that the grief was too fresh for her to go meeting the little hobbit who had become so close to her brother and her sons. 

 

They'd gotten suspicious looks last time they'd passed through, but now most hobbits seemed distracted by Bombur's children. There were several hobbits with their own little ones in their arms who stopped to coo at the youngest two, the twins. 

 

If Bilbo was surprised at the amount of dwarrows at their door, they didn't say so. The former burglar went digging in their pantry,  unearthing a large collection of sweets and pastries that had the dwarflings pleading with big eyes to get them after dinner. 

 

The atmosphere was relaxed, and comfortable, despite the amount of people. Halla joined Bilbo in making up some food for the lot of them. Both were chatting easily in the kitchen. Gloin had introduced his wife and child with vigor, and Bilbo seemed to be somehow managing two conversations at once. The children, including Gimli, bombarded the hobbit with questions, about hobbit's lack of beards and their meal schedule and why they farmed instead of fighting. Bilbo never seemed to mind any of their questions. Nori didn't pay that much attention to the whole thing, mind, all to happy to sit back and snicker at the scene.

 

When the little bell on Bilbo's door went off, they excused themselves, claiming it was probably their cousins. There were low voices in conservation before Bilbo came back. They gave Nori a sly smile and said, "It's for you actually."

 

Nori spun around just in time to see Liha, Sisda and Uloin. "Was following me necessary?" she grumbled, not even surprised. 

 

"Yes!" Uloin chirped and skipped over to greet Bombur's clan. Sisda just shrugged. 

 

Liha added, "We wanted to meet the hobbit burglar."

 

"Now you have. Why don't you leave?" Nori muttered, but it was too late. Halla had already welcomed Liha's help in the kitchen. Sisda was sitting down with Cael and Gloin. She sighed, and filled her pipe, sitting back and waiting for the night to be over. Nori recalled a thought she'd once had, that the careful walls she'd kept between the different parts of her life would come crashing down, and everything would intermingle, and fought back a smile. 

 

\- - -

 

The next morning, Bilbo and Bofur sat outside, enjoying the sunshine, and waiting until it was time for the dwarrows to leave. Neither was happy that their visit would soon be over, but Bofur promised to send letters (through Ori or someone else who could write).

 

Bilbo sat back, pipe in hand, blowing  a smoke ring. Bofur had seemed calmer, happier on this visit then they had been on the way here. That could have just been from seeing their family, but the hobbit couldn't help but remember their conservation with Nori. Deciding to try to bring it up , they looked at Bofur's hair, which was visible while her hat was on one of Bombur's kids. Bilbo remembered what Fíli and Kíli had told them about dwarven courting, and that braids were involved. "Is that a new braid?"

 

Bofur blushed. “Yeah... it's a courting braid.”

 

Bilbo smiled, not surprised at all, “Nori?”. It was nice to see that the two of them were working things out, Bilbo had been tired of seeing of that sad look in Bofur's eyes whenever she thought about it. And the two were obviously well suited to each other. 

 

Bofur smiled back, looking deliriously happy, “She gave me a courting gift when we got back to Ered Luin.”

 

“Good, good. I was wondering when she'd work up the courage to do it,” Bilbo said matter-of-factly.

 

“You knew?” Bofur asked, surprised.

 

“I caught her working on the gift when you passed through on your way to Ered Luin,” Bilbo admitted. “Took her a bit to admit it was for you, but I'm not blind.” They leaned over, giving Bofur a warm hug. “I'm glad your One accepted you.”

 

Bofur tightened her own arms around Bilbo, thinking about how much the hobbit lost at the end of the quest. Neither let go for a long time. 

 

“You'd better write,” Bilbo said when they finally pulled apart. “I don't care if it's just a little message, you'd better keep your promise and tell me how thing's are going.”

 

Bofur nodded, eyes wet. “I will, I promise.”

 

\- - -

 

Not everyone notices Bofur and Nori at first. Dori is too busy with his own work as the soon-to-be Guild Head of the Tailor's Guild to care about his sister's doings. Most of the Company is similarly occupied, too distracted by their own problems and lives to worry about the way the two are even more in each other's space than before. 

 

Only Ori, Bifur (and his husband) and Bombur (and his family) knew about the courtship form early on. Bombur found out in Ered Luin, Bofur told him when Nori gave her the gift. He and his wife were happy for both of them, and all six of his children easily accepted Nori into the family (though the thief discouraged them from calling her Aunt).

 

Bifur hadn't even needed to be told. He'd taken one look at Bofur and Nori once they'd returned and congratulated Bofur for finally fucking her One. Bofur had turned bright red, for once embarrassed and spluttering while Nori cackled behind her. Later, Nori had stopped laughing when Bifur gestured between her, his spear, and Bofur threateningly, not even needing to speak for Nori to understand the threat. 

 

Ori had been like Bifur, not in the threatening way, but in knowing as soon as they saw them that something was different.  They'd watched Bofur and Nori arrive for breakfast together for several days in a row, and had approached them afterward.

 

“Nori, are you going to wait until Dori's dead to tell him?” They asked, face twitching into a small smile when they'd caught the two snogging just down the hallway. 

 

“No,” Nori said, pulling away from Bofur, “I'll wait 'til he's on his deathbed.”

 

Ori had just rolled their eyes, and hugged Bofur sweetly. “I'm glad you're happy,” they told both of them. “But you shouldn't wait too long to tell everyone."

 

\- - -

 

“It's getting very difficult to tell people,” Bofur grumbled as yet another argument between Gloin and Oin erupted once again just as she was trying to announce that she and Nori were getting married. 

 

“I'm tired of this,” Nori complained, right before she climbed over the table and started snogging Bofur in full view of the entire Company. 

 

“Nori!” came Dori's scandalized shout almost immediately. Nori took her time to finish biting Bofur's lip before casually sliding off her intended's lap.

 

She said nonchalantly, as though everyone were not staring at them in shock, “You all were interrupting Bofur.”

 

Nori looked at Bofur who jerked upright and nodded vigorously. “Yes, right. We had an announcement... um. We're courting!”

 

“Nori! Why didn't you tell me this was going on?!” Dori demanded. 

 

Bifur cheered loudly, shaking his husband's hand in the air enthusiastically, while Bombur got up to give his sister a hug. Ori grinned and stood up to do the same with Nori. Dwalin looked like they'd been hit over the head, and poor Oin just looked confused, having missed what Bofur had said. 

 

Balin said calmly, “Congratulations,”  looking amused, echoed by Gloin and his wife. 

 

Nori rolled her eyes at Dori's attempts to lecture her and congratulate her at the same time and

whispered in Bofur's ear, “Think Dori'll leave us alone if we start making out on the table?”

 

Bofur blinked at her and replied, “He'd just get more mad.”

 

“Darn,” Nori said, leaning on the back of Bofur's chair. “Maybe we should do it anyway.”

 

Bofur laughed and let Nori kiss her, Dori's fervent scandalized noises fading into the background. The murmur of the Company's voices washed over them as throughout the Mountain, life went on. 

 


End file.
